Wednesday

As X Games go
mainstream, big $s

More advertisers drawn by desired young viewers

By Kevin Downey

   The X Games will never get the kind of attention the Super Bowl gets or come anywhere near the $130 million-plus that game is expected to pull in from advertisers later this month.
   But like the Super Bowl, the Winter X Games VII, set to air in late January and early February on Disney-owned broadcast and cable networks, is proving that the media economy has fully bounced back for many sports franchises.
   Disney executives are not disclosing how much commercial spots are going for, but gold and associate sponsorships, which last year went for a reported $2 million and $1 million respectively, are sold out nearly three weeks before the games are set to begin.
   The Winter X Games VI also pulled in about $3.5 million from commercial spots last year, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
   Moreover, while major corporations once shied away from associating with anything extreme, eight sponsors from last year’s games are back, including Taco Bell and Playstation 2, while four sponsors have been added, including Levi’s and Verizon Wireless.
   “It’s because of a combination of building interest and building credibility for any event like this,” says David M. Carter, principal at the Sports Business Group.
   “Some of these events are becoming mainstream and demonstrating that it’s not a fad. You’ll see more corporate sponsors lining up behind it.”
   Sponsors will have spots running on ESPN and ESPN2 as well as ads on the networks’ website and in ESPN The Magazine. Some of the events, which are being telecast from Jan. 30 through Feb. 4, will also air on ABC.
   Televised sports in general are having a good year and were one of the few types of programs to do well during the just- ended recession.
   The Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association reports that while advertising revenue on the Big Three broadcast networks was up 7 percent in third quarter 2002, benefiting some from a comparison to the previous year’s 9/11-altered schedules, revenue was up nearly 32 percent for sports programs.
   While the outlook for sports is still strong, that may prove especially true for X Games-type events, which feature sports like snowboarding and the snowmobile hill cross.
    The draw of the games is their young male audience, a demographic perhaps best known for eluding advertisers.
   The audience for the X Games’ highest- rated events, however, is tiny. The X Games’ best ratings are roughly one-fortieth the size of the Super Bowl’s, for example.
    But it is a targeted audience.
   The Winter X Games VI last year reached about 800,000 households for top events on ESPN and more than 400,000 households for some events on ESPN2.
    Men account for roughly 45 percent of extreme sports viewers while kids and teens make up another 25 percent or so.
   The median age of extreme sports viewers is 37, according to Magna Global USA. In comparison, the median age of the Winter Olympics audience was 48 years on NBC.
   “The obvious draw is that many advertisers and sponsors have been looking for the holy grail of attracting young viewers for many years,” says Carter.
    “The action sports are drawing those young viewers and it’s still relatively cost efficient. And [the X Games] are not only one of the few sports that draws young viewers, but they have perfected it.”

-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.

Printer-Friendly Version | Send to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact Us